Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Paradise for Alaskan Kids

I have absolute proof that it is spring.

I saw  two guys arrived by snow machine with shovels in hand to dig out the basketball court. 
The basketball court is a wooden platform built in the hockey rink by the school's carpentry class a few years back.

Yeah you read that right.  They built a basketball platform out of wood because the kids would rather play basketball.  The rink was built here when they built the new school but no one plays hockey so they built something more usable.

Out here, kids play basketball from the time the platform is cleared all the way to the fall when the snow stays.  In fact they spend from about 6 PM to sunset right now playing.  Sunset is around midnight.  Yup, midnight.  I need to take a picture and post it.

On weekends and in the summer, they go all day long till it is dark.

Just beyond the basketball court is the lake.  It has a nice layer of water over the ice but the many of the extreme sports guys are waiting till the water is fully melted so they can rev up the engines and plow their way across the lake on their snow machines.

 Yes!!!! YOU read that right.  They rev up their snow machines, get up to a certain speed and go for it, hoping they get all the way across the lake without sinking.  Snow machines become Jetskis. I am not kidding you!  They think nothing of sinking, once, twice or even three times in a day!  I have seen that happen!

Their machines produce a high whiney sound that makes me think of fingernails on the chalk boards.  To quote people out here "So annoying!"  I found out today  that the snow machine has to be powerful enough to even try it or you don't stand a chance of going all the way across. Right now, they rev up and push their machines through the standing water. 

It is sooo funny watching them.  Last year, my neighbors and I stood on the front porch, watching them and making bets on who would make it all the way across the lake.  Its like watching a car go through a deep puddle of water!  When it happens, I"ll record a short video for people.  Yes, we laugh as the guys sink because they miscalculated, didn't have enough power or were just unlucky.

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